What Are Friends For?
by Gravoxic
Summary: Ruka is and will always be Natsume's best-friend. Now with that being said; all of the following must include: making sure his friend doesn't go overboard and get himself into trouble, etc. Sadly, there are some things that even Ruka must draw a line to. That which primarily includes a girl named, Mikan Sakura. But hey, what are friends for? {Edited Summary}
1. Chapter 1

What Are Friends For?

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Disclaimed

Enjoy :)

Wanted to make a Ruka POV!:D

Summary: Ruka always being Natsume's best friend, made sure that his friend wouldn't always go overboard and get into trouble, but what if there are some things he just can't handle with Natsume when it comes to a girl called Mikan Sakura for example?

((A Little bit of M and a little bit of T))

Ruka"Okay, I know I'm just being paranoid, but I think Natsume is testing me to see how far my patience goes!" Ruka thought to himself one morning while walking to class.

Ruka was now seventeen years old and in high school division with his best friend Natsume and the rest of the gang including Sakura and Imai-san. Ever since seven years ago when all chaos broke loose with the ESP and the AAO, Ruka had been trying to keep it together and be a "rock" as he called it, for all his friends who need him especially his long time best friend Natsume and his old crush Sakura-san.

Yes, now that its been seven years and all the problems have been dealt with, it still doesn't end for Rukas working peaceful life. Ruka expected that after Mikan and Natsume confessed their feelings for each other things would be kinda different, but he never expected things to go out of control different!

As of now Ruka recalled all the troubled and awkward moments he had ran into between the lovey dovey couple, even when they were just ten years old and growing up!

Here were the things that he recalled that happened in the past seven years...

_-Ruka's Memory's Flashback-_

_Age 10_

_Ruka at age 10 was taking his normal stroll to the academy's animal shelter to visit all his animal friends. Mikan was back and now it seems that his best friend Natsume is spending 24 seven with his new girlfriend so Ruka couldn't really hang out with Natsume that much now, but it didn't hurt his feelings because he has never seen Natsume so happy before, especially around a girl of all people. Imai-san also kept her distance saying one day "that their baka germs might be contagious." _

_Ruka sighed and continued on his way and was almost to the shelter until he saw Mikan running and giggling across the field to the pathway of the Northern forest. _

_Ruka thought "I wonder what Sakura-san is doing out here, and where is Natsume?" Ruka was about to go talk to Mikan when all of a sudden there he saw Natsume. Ruka saw that he had a big grin or maybe it was a smirk?, on his face, and by the looks of it, he was the cause of Sakura running and giggling because... she was being chased. _

_Mikan giggled and shouted "You can't catch me pervert!" while running away, Natsume on the other hand increased his speed and was about to grab Sakura by the waist, when Sakura suddenly teleported with her new alice she had gotten, just like how Ruka got the barrier alice, and Natsume got the command alice._

_Ruka couldn't hold it back anymore and started to laugh out loud, which caused Natsume to turn his head and was about to glare at whoever was making fun of him, but saw that it was only Ruka._

_Natsume "Oui, Ruu-chan, what you all laughing about?" Natsume with hands in his pocket walked up to Ruka with a smirk on his face._

_Ruka blushed with irritation hearing Natsumes old nickname for him, when they were just 8 years old back then Rukas old elementary classmates use to call him that. Ruka was about to hit Natsume with his special cat fist technique but Natsume started laughing and made Ruka forget why he was mad._

_Ruka "I see Sakura-san disappeared on you again, hey Natsume, is it that fun chasing Sakura san when she'll always disappear that easily?" Ruka thought it would've been an endless game and that would be tiring if he had to play that forever until he looked up at Natsume and saw that his face changed into a serious face._

_Natsume with a serious voice said "always...I'll always chase her wherever she goes..." and at that, walked away to go look for Sakura-san by the looks of it._

_Ruka sighed once again, "That Natsume..." and then he walked to the animal shelter thinking that Natsume wasn't talking about the game..._

_Age 11_

_Ruka now at age 11 was thinking how much Narumi had gotten stupider over a year that past was walking down the hall considering of going to class or not heard the voices of fan girls. Immediately Ruka halted on instincts and was about to walk the other way until he heard Sakura-sans voice, Ruka interested in what they were discussing started to eavesdrop._

_Mikan "Um excuse me, I need to get to class..." Mikan tried to scoot across the wall until the fan girls pushed her back into the wall making Mikan drop the books she was carrying for Hotaru._

_Fan Girl "Not so fast Sakura, start answering our questions before we beat you up for stealing Natsume-sama!, what makes you better than all the other girls here at the academy that have been yearning for Natsume-samas affection for years!" _

_Mikan looked at the crowd of girls and saw that some of them were actually crying, Mikan felt sad that she hurt the girls hearts, she could be too innocent sometimes..._

_Mikan "I'm sorry!" Mikan was about to hug the girl in front of her with a waterfall face until the girl slapped her on the face._

_Mikan fell back on her but, "Itaii.." Mikan looked up at the girl in front of her with puppy dog face, "why did you slap me?..." Mikan asked with a question mark above her head and a smile on her face. Some of the girls were face palming in their minds when they saw how innocent and naive Mikan could be._

_Fan Girl "As the leader of Natsumes fan club, we charge you against going against the girl code of Natsume-samas love!" She pointed at Mikan with an accusing finger, while thunder strike look was in Mikans background. _

_Mikan looked left and right and then pointed at herself, "do you mean me?..." she asked with a confused look on her face._

_Ruka who was frustrated that other girls would treat helpless Sakura-san like that, was about to step in and fight the other girls off some way that he would never understand how, until a hand grabbed his shoulder making him halt in his steps._

_Ruka looked up and saw that it was Natsume with a danger glare on his face, Ruka scared himself took a step back and watched Natsume approach the group of girls._

_Mikan was smiling her cheerful smile with twinkles in her eyes while looking at all the new friends she made and who share the same interest of Natsume like her, was about to ask if they wanted to go to central town together until she saw that Natsume was coming over._

_Mikan "Hey Natsume!, look it! I made new friends!" Mikan called out waving and saw that Natsume started to smile._

_Natsume "Oh really?...", Natsume glanced at all the fan girls who were blushing and stepping away from Mikan in a hurry._

_Natsume saw the red handprint mark on Mikans face and felt his control snapped..._

_Natsume "Mikan ….were all gonna play hide and go seek and your it, close your eyes and count to ten." Natsume said in a cold smile voice that Mikan didn't notice that it was cold because she was too excited to play the game._

_Mikan "Really! Okay!" Mikan smiling while turning to face the wall and covered her eyes started to count to ten._

_Mikan counted "1...2...3..." Mikan heard in the background the sound of the other girls squeal and shrieks and their footsteps running away... _

_Mikan thought "Oh Boy! They must be really happy and excited to play too! Hmm whats that smell? smoke?...oh well!" Mikan continued counting until she reached ten and turned around._

_Mikan "Okay!, ready or not here I come!..." Mikan turned around only to see Ruka who was hiding around the corner looking like he saw a demon and Natsume, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed looking bored as ever._

_Mikan "Huh? Hey Natsume!, your suppose to hide too! that's cheating!" Mikan said with a pout on her face, Natsume sighed and said "Okay polka lets go to central town and get you some howalon and a ice pack..." Natsume started to walk down the hall leaving Mikan in his wake, skipping while singing how much she loves howalon while ignoring the perverted nickname._

_Ruka sighed and put his hands in his pocket, "I need a nap and some aspirin..." Ruka started to walk to his room not bothering to follow the couple to Central town._

_Age 12_

_Ruka who turned 12 three days ago wanted to see what Natsume was up to, started walking towards the Sakura tree where he usually saw his best friend taking a nap or reading a manga book. Today Natsume had skipped classes and Ruka was worried since usually Natsume always went to class to make sure Sakura-san was not getting hit on boys._

_Ruka saw that even Mikan did not know where the said boy was and looked kinda worried even though he was more stronger than anyone she'd ever met._

_Hotaru "Maybe he wanted an escape from the baka idiot before she starts her drooling on him again" Hotaru said making Mikan hug her close and apologize in her shirt over and over about not being an idiot but having a lost communication with Numbers and words._

_Ruka finally approached the Sakura tree and saw that his friend was on top of a branch, but he did not expect to see what he saw._

_Ruka looked up and saw that Mikan was pressed against the trunk with Natsume kissing her fully on the mouth, making Sakuras cheeks bright red with her eyes closed._

_Ruka blushed and started to think how it was a bad idea once again bothering to look for Natsume when he suddenly heard Mikan moan..._

_Ruka looked up and saw that Natsumes hand was traveling up Sakuras uniform shirt exposing Sakuras skin to all the world. Ruka suddenly felt a ping inside his heart and the sense of lost out of nowhere. Ruka saw how much prettier Sakura has gotten and finally took notice that her hair was left down again cascading down her back and around her face making her look like an angel. Ruka had only once before seen her hair this way, and that was when they were all ten and it was for the snow white and sleeping beauty play that Ruka was forced into. That day Ruka remembered when he saw Sakura distressed about the role of the prince she would have to play, but she was amazingly cute the way she looked with her hair down. Ruka remembered how it felt like to have a crush for the first time in his life, but he also remembered how Natsume also looked at Mikan that day, but with more intensity than he could ever come up with._

_Suddenly Ruka remembered the kiss that he was suppose to share with Sakura at the end of the show, he never did feel her lips...Ruka started to touch his lips unconsciously when he suddenly remembered where he was standing and looked up to see Natsume with one eyebrow raised._

_Ruka looked left and right but saw that Sakura was gone, he hoped that she didn't disappear because of him, and with that thought Ruka started to blush._

_Natsume "Oui Ruka, what are you doing here?" Natsume jumped down and leaned against the trunk of the tree with an emotionless face. _

_Ruka was still blushing "Eh? I-I w-was looking for you Natsume, I was wondering why you didn't show up to class today!" Ruka looked around frantically, making sure that he didn't look into Natsumes eyes._

_Natsume started to chuckle darkly, "You know, you gave Mikan a big scare when she looked down to see that you were standing here..." Natsume started to look annoyed but suddenly it changed being replaced with a smirk._

_Ruka "oh..Gomen" Ruka looked down feeling embarrassed until he felt Natsumes hand pat his back making him look up to see a smirking face._

_Natsume "...So how much of a show did you get?" Ruka blushed and looked away..._

_Ruka "I wasn't trying to watch both of you suck your faces clean off..." Ruka blushed and yelled with irritation while Natsume laughed and threw his arm around Rukas neck while they both walked back to the academy laughing._

_It turned out the next day during homeroom Mikan hounded Ruka with questions of what he saw, but Ruka just said that he just got there when she saw him so he didn't see anything._

_From that day on though, Ruka noticed that Sakura-san left her hair down making her everyday look like an angel..._

_Age 13_

_Ruka age 13 now in junior high and graduated from elementary, was finishing packing up his clothes from his room while the robot maid was dusting his desk, looked out his window and saw Mikan and Natsume building a snowman outside. It was almost the end of winter and not too long ago it was New years so it was also Sakura-sans birthday. That day everyone came up with great ideas on how they can surprise Sakura, but of course Imai-san was in charge of how it all would be planned. Though Ruka had his own idea of a gift to give Sakura, Imai-san shot it down in a heartbeat, Natsume seemed to have his own special privileges being Sakuras boyfriend since Imai-san didn't question any of his ideas even though he didn't really give that much detail on what he was planning to do. _

_Ruka sighed and remembered the gift he chose for Sakura, but it was at a wrong time to give it to her it had seemed..._

_At the party that was held in the elementary livery room, almost all the kids from the class had came and some of the older seniors like Tsubasa and Misaki came as well, even the teachers like Narumi and even Jinno showed up._

_Everyone was having fun and especially of all Sakura-san, who was led here by Natsume as was planned by Imai-san, at the moment Sakura was playing pin the tail on the Piyo with some of the other kids, while he and Natsume sat on one of the couches drinking fizzed soda._

_Natsume "Ruka, what did you get Mikan for her Birthday?..." Natsume asked out of nowhere, Ruka startled almost coughed out his soda but regained his composure a minute later._

_Ruka "Nothing special, just a necklace I found at an accessory shop.." Ruka said while once again started sipping his soda._

_Natsume sat there emotionless for a moment and started to make Ruka nervous until he stood up, "...I'll be back, if Mikan asked where I am, tell her I went to the bathroom" with that Natsune left._

_Ruka let out his breath, for a moment he felt angry that he had to tell Natsume what gift he got for Sakura-san, until he shooked his head and thought that it was nothing to get mad of, besides Sakura-san is Natsumes girlfriend..._

_Ruka looked back towards where Sakura was, giggling and chasing by the looks of it Anna and Nonoka, Ruka watched as she ran with her hair flying with the wind at her back, he also saw how she wore a pink dress with her long white stalkings as she ran everywhere. Yes, she had gotten more beautiful each day that passes..._

_Ruka remembered how people always say now how her and Natsume make such a cute couple even though Mikan still had a brain the size of a walnut, but older boys say that it was part of the charm that makes Mikan cuter..._

"_Cuter huh?..." Ruka thought to himself, as he started to daydream of how Mikan would call his name with a big smile on her face making him feel like he was the most important person in her life, until Natsume would grab her hand and take her wherever he would go..._

_Rukas daydream was suddenly interrupted when Hotarus face popped out of nowhere in front of him. _

_Hotaru "Hey bunny boy, have you seen the idiot?" Ruka looked up to where Mikan was and saw that she wasn't there anymore._

_Ruka "That's strange, she was just there a moment ago." In his mind Ruka thought "How long was I daydreaming again?..." _

_Hotaru "Well its almost time to cut the cake so you go get her..." with that Hotaru left toward the food table, leaving Ruka with a dumbfounded look on his face, but soon got up and started to search for Sakura..._

_When he didn't see her in the livery room he decided to go to the extra room and check, when he got there the room was empty but the balcony door was opened..._

_Ruka went to the balcony and there he saw her..._

_She was looking out toward the academy grounds and it was snowing, the snow covered all the trees and the ground with its white powder..._

_Ruka didn't want to ruin the pretty moment or the pretty scenery but any minute Imai-san will come in and do that for him anyway..._

_Ruka "Sakura-san..." at the same moment Sakura turned around with her bright smile on her face._

_Mikan "Ruka-pyoh! Look its snowing! Sugoi!..." both Ruka and Sakura turned to look at the sky and watched as the bits of white fell down on them.._

_Mikan"Neh, Ruka-pyoh, this is best day ever, with the party and our friends all coming together, if I can make one wish like this tonight, I would like to keep this peaceful memory repeat over and over again, and hope to share it with others too like Jii-chan and mother and father..." Mikan said with tear droplets in her eyes while she still smiled watching the sky..._

_At that moment,... I knew I still had forbidden feelings for this one girl,who already belonged to somebody else..._

_Ruka whos eyes was now covered over his bangs started to cry, as he too watched the snow fall down..._

_Ruka "Sakura-san, do you mind, if I give you my birthday present now?..." Rukas voice was no higher than a whisper..._

_Mikan turned to look at Ruka with a big smile on her face "Of course!" she said while stepping closer to Ruka. Ruka reached into his pocket and pulled out a white gold heart pendent attached to a gold chain..._

_Ruka heard Mikan gasped as she looked at the beautiful object, Mikan brought her hand to her mouth.._

_Mikan"Ruka, its so pretty!, please tell me you did not spend a lot for this!..." Mikan said while Ruka went behind her back and placed the necklace around her neck, making sure that it was locked in..._

_Ruka "It was my decision to get what I wanted to get you for your birthday Sakura-san, please don't feel sad on your birthday because of me..." Ruka thought sadly that he wished that this moment would last forever, until he felt warm arms around his neck pulling him into a hug..._

_Mikan "Thank you Ruka..." for the first time in his life, Sakura called him by his name without the Pyoh, it feels...nice" Ruka thought in his mind as he hugged her back as the snow fell on top of them..._

_Ruka suddenly wanted to ask Sakura an important question, that which he really needed to know more than anything!..."Did you ever have feelings for me too?..."_

_Ruka suddenly felt a piercing glare behind his head, and suddenly it was boiling hot!..."that could only mean one thing!" Ruka thought quickly as he quickly let go of Sakura who was startled by his fast push away move until she also saw him standing in the entryway to the balcony._

_There stood Natsume with Imai-san behind him as they both looked at Ruka with a cold glare and a cold emotionless face..._

_Mikan "Ah! Natsume there you are, I was looking for you earlier!"Mikan said with a hint of a blush on her face, as she started to walk towards Natsume, but suddenly he took a step away from her which made Mikan pause with a confused look on her face..._

_Rukas heart went to his throat as he saw that quick movement..._

_Ruka "oh god...please!...please No!..." Ruka shouted in his mind as he looked at his friend with a pleading look on his face, but all he got back was a cold, distant, stare, as if he never existed..._

_Mikan "Natsume?...whats wrong!.." Mikan urgently tried to walk towards him once again and reached for his hand but Natsume took another step back until he faced the other direction and left out the door closing it with a giant bang, making the wall crackle and the room echo with the sound as he left all three of them behind..._

_Mikan with a speed that nobody has ever seen before, ran after Natsume with all her might, with the look that he gave her, Ruka could understand why she would leave..._

_When Ruka looked at Natsume the moment before he left, for a second he saw it, the bitter hurt, like the look you get when your heart breaks, but it was there only for a second..._

_With Sakura gone all that was left in the room was Ruka and Imai and the uncomfortable silence that surrounded them, Ruka didn't understand why Imai-san was here in the first place, but he had no time to ask because he had to talk to Natsume and fast!..._

_As Ruka was about to walk past Imai-san, he felt a sudden pain in the back of his head three times..._

_Baka...Baka...Baka..._

_Ruka clutched his head in pain as he figured Hotaru was gonna do that anyway, might as well get it over with now..._

_Ruka who turned around and was about to yell at Imai-san to leave him alone, stopped dead in his tracks when he looked at her face..._

_Hotaru Imai was crying?..."Impossible.." Ruka thought as he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.._

_As he looked again the tears were gone and only an angry glare was left in its place. _

_Suddenly, Hotaru grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him..._

_Ruka shocked at first took him a couple of seconds to register to what was going on around him. As he looked down at the cold inventor who had him in a lip lock, he suddenly felt like fainting..._

_As quick as she kissed him, she as quickly let go of him as he fell to the floor on his knees, while finally looking up at her with the look of why? across his face..._

_Hotaru "You are an idiot, no...your a fool!, don't make Mikan sad, or it would be the last thing you'll ever do..."_

_with that said Imai-san left the room leaving Ruka alone.._

**DAMN! This was suppose to be a one chapter deal, but there's so much more to write I guess there's gonna be another chapter in this T/M story! Dx**

**I didn't wanna say this but...**

**To Be Continued**

**Review? D**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hi, long time no see Fanfiction readers. Well, I'm here to update this story since I saw and still see potential. Yes, I know the main mangastream has ended, but yeah, fanfiction, it's so not gonna end like that of the manga. Faaar from it. My bio. located over on my profile page should explain my feels for what happened when I returned to this site. Long story short; many past (incomplete) works were deleted, while endless woes were passed around. :'(

Now the last chapter was filled with grammar after grammar errors. But i won't address and fix them until i get a running laptop at my disposal. So for now - we are currently sticking with a tablet. Posting one chapter at a time. Capishe? Ok, moving on.

I think I'm getting a hint on where I was going with this story before the sudden loss of all motivation. Hopefully it'll turn out better than expected! :)

Pst- layout will probably come out different from now on. Happy Reading!

_Disclaimer _: Hands down, disclaimed. Tachibana, you the best! Props to this manga creator for bringing Gakuen Alice/Alice Academy into this reality.

((Edited: 11/24/2014))

**Chapter 2. **

( Ruka's POV )

Why me...?

Currently tied upside-down against a bamboo pole in the middle of the High School courtyard. I gazed out towards the sea of people that consisted of mainly the High School student body. My eyes in constant search for a pair of violet irises that which whom I would indeed know, would belong to my main assailant. The well known, Ice Queen.

My vision caught sight of a figure whose posture gave off a distinguished manner. Her facial expression hinting one that of boredom with a speck of amusement.

Damn you, Imai. Of course on a day where I'd finally presumed that this would count as the very week for where I, Ruka Nogi, would be free of all distress that came with the people whom I've called, 'friends'. Speaking of those people...

To my left, Kokoro and Kitsuneme both stood on either side of Sumire. Whom no longer goes by the n'name, Permy. Both guys have finally exceeded her height and frame; now no bullying could get past them. Their hands were currently enclosed around both Sumire's upper arms, leaving her defenseless and unable to come at my aid. Restraints during Ruka's time of humiliation? Expected.

Not far from where the Ice Queen was seated - Tobita, Anna, and Nonoko have changed aswell over the years. Tobita is still called Prez by our classmates. He has grown taller, but with a kept gangly frame, and his hairstyle still matches up with the one he sported in the elementary division. He stood amongst other runner-ups that are currently participating for a seat in the student council. Not once did he send a glance towards my way.

Anna and Nonoko have indeed became pretty to the eyes, in a cute and more spunky type, I guess. Sadly, they do not hang out as often as they used to. Rumors had went around that something came up during our middle school days, that which led to their fall-out of a friendship. Sakura was heartbroken when she first heard about it, though she and Imai were still trying to patch things up between those two. It seems like a lot of our friends took a change for the worst...

"Ruka-pyon! Are you ok?!"

And there it was. That light which always shined through my most darkest of times.

As I looked straight ahead, though upside-down; I could easily discern the figure of a familiar petite but slender framed woman, whom possessed beautiful long wavy brunette hair, with a set of hazel colored eyes. Her expression gave off one whom was worried and a bit irritated at the whole situation.

_Worried for my sake._

I quickly shook the thought away.

_The last thing i want, would be a repeat of what happened a couple of years ago. _

"Sakura, thank goodness you came. Can you please untie these restraints that bind me to this pole of humiliation?" I tried flexing my hands while struggling against the restraint. No good. "Seems like even I don't posess the muscle for this."

Her arms were crossed and she let out a soft sigh. "What did you do this time, Ruka?"

Around this time, the crowd slowly started to disperse. Guess the show was over?

"I honestly swear, nothing too extreme this time. Unless you confirm with me, at this very moment that muting any of Imai's future beck & calls will bring forth the apocalypse and the end to all life as we know it." I replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, you didn't get my memo? I'm pretty confident that I covered all that in paragraph two..." She said this in a same tone of manner before reaching up to untie that pesky knot which held the binding together.

A serious pause before our facades broke and the laughter came streaming out, non-stop.

"Well let's just say I never learn my lesson, hm?"

"And I wonder what lesson that's suppose to be."

A familiar voice belonging to neither I nor Mikan suddenly spoke up. And our laughter ceased immediately as we both turned our heads towards the direction of that owners voice.

"Natsume!"

**To be continued~**

**I'll try to update as soon as I can. **

**But this chapter is meant to get the ball rolling again. **

**If ya' kno what I mean. *wink wink***


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you so much for all the kind responses. I'm happy (and relieved) to say that chapter 3 is now up. And as always-happy reading, folks! :)

**Chapter 3. **

( Ruka's POV )

Though uncomfortable as it may have been from my current position - all tied up and completely Immobolized - I was still lucky enough to be able to turn my head just in time to see him manifest from the North Quad that which lead away from the Senior Division Dormitory.

"Natsume!"

My longtime best-friend approached in his usual calm and cool manner, the passing wind just about ruffling up his 'already' tousled shoulder length coal-black hair by a little. His outward demeanor gave off nothing short from indifference to the whole scene in-front. His lips were formed in a thin line while his gaze traveled from both me to a smiling Mikan... Before once again landing back on me. "I'm not gonna even bother asking." he said.

"Well good, since I don't even wanna recall any of the details," I stated back.

"Hey, no fair! I wanted to hear all about it." Sakura said, her lips formed a small pout, before resuming back to untying that stubborn knot. What the hell did Imai use in order to get it that complicated?

"The best that I can offer is - I'll think about it, and that's only if you can spring me out." I said this, before dramatically making a show of effort to how uncomfortable I was in my current position. I would really like to feel my blood circulating through my arms again.

"No problem! I'll have you out in a jiffy. Did you know that I was ranked fourth last year for the girls strength examination in our class?" she said while grinning and holding-up her left hand - purposely displaying four of her fingers.

"We know." Natsume and I both replied in unison.

"Hehe, just wanted to make sure," she said.

Before Sakura could keep to her word - a quick smell of something burnt, a loud snapping noise, and next thing I knew - my body was plummeting to the ground. Not a single warning given to embrace for impact.

And sadly, it was head first - as my body laid there on the hard floor; experiencing nothing more but pain and a little bit of relief. A second later and my mind slowly started to articulate the typical heated banter between two people going on in the background.

"I said that I would do it! Grr, you always do that, Natsume!"

"You were taking to long, Idiot. Any longer and we'd all be old and walking around with canes and fake teeth. Well at least you would."

"That's so not true! Wait, what did you call me?!"

"Idiot," he said, his mouth forming an amused smirk on his face. Daring her to retort something back.

Inside I mentally face palmed myself. After all these years, my best-friend still enjoyed getting a rise out of Sakura-san. Him and Imai were pretty much on the same boat when it comes to being deemed a possible sadist.

Wait, possible? Pft, who am I kidding. And poor Sakura - she would continuously fall prey to the baiting.

But this time something remarkable happened - as I sat up from my laying position - all pain from before now ceased to exist.

I watched my best-friend and the girl we both have always loved - as she suddenly sighed, folded her arms, and began walking away towards the opposite direction. This caught me and by the looks of it, Natsume himself, off-guard.

From my new angle, I am now able to take in her whole appearance: from the high school uniform hugging her body in a snug fit, to her long brunette hair flowing over her shoulders and down her back while it swayed from side to side in each step that led her aways.

Looking back over at Natsume - his facial expression would come off as bored and uncaring to those whom were just passing by and lucky enough to even witness such a rare scene. But I knew him better than most others. Just have to give it a second. . .

The sound of running footsteps filled my ears, and then like always - I would purposely advert my gaze to something else, anything else - not needing to see in order to know what would come next.

Truth was; somewhere deep-down inside my heart, I really hated witnessing this repeated scene. One of my main habits now was to occasionally avoid those two - specifically and only during moments like these ones - where either one would chase after the other, and then start openly displaying their feelings for one another.

_I'm such an idiot. When am I ever going to move on and grow a pair? These are my two best friends, and I can't always be like this ...I don't want to stay like this! _

"Their happiness is important to me," I whispered to myself while gazing up at the clear sky.

A couple of wild birds began landing near my legs and arms - I immediately pick-up on their inner thoughts which were wondering why i was alone and sitting on the dirty ground.

But my mind drifted elsewhere - to a memory of that time long ago, as it would flood my whole thinking process and leave me no room for escape. This isn't the first time.

One memory that now serves as a constant reminder to how much I cherish Natsume and Sakura's friendship, and how no matter what ...I must never again allow myself to be selfish.

**To be continued~ **

**Spoiler(s): Find out what happened from that party filled with snow and uncertainty, next chapter!**


End file.
